


Where Demons Hide

by rotsloeh



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), The Babadook
Genre: Graphic Description, Horror? kinda, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychological Torture, Thriller?, dark?, hidashi sorta
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-06
Packaged: 2018-03-16 00:30:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3467684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rotsloeh/pseuds/rotsloeh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hiro’s grief and inability to cope with Tadashi's death has summoned something dark. He must find it in himself to overcome the pain and move on before it claims him and take over.</p><p>I'm really bad at summaries. And besides summaries gives you clues about the story so... meh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this is slightly inspired by the film The Babadook (a really great psychological thriller!) So anyway, hope you enjoy this. I'm not really sure how I did with it.But i've been rewriting and rewriting it until it seemed decent enough but still, i dunno. Pus, this is my very first fanfic sooo... Constructive criticisms are very very welcome and much needed. :D *Please be gentle with me*
> 
> P.S: English is not my first language so I apologize in advance if there are any grammatical errors and screw-ups.
> 
> P.P.S: This story is for the whole BH6 family, Hidashi Family, and especially for these wonderful people and authors :  
> hoshi (ladylune)  
> Moros_mints  
> Xitlalit  
> Seito  
> thehomodabrothers  
>  InkStainsOnMyHands  
>  The_Birds_And_Bees   
> meyoco  
> ToukoTai 
> 
> They write such great fics that words are not enough to describe them! So I suggest you check them out yourself.

Hiro found himself jolting awake in a cold, dark room, the aftertaste of fear and panic still clutching at his chest as he tried to get rid of them with heavy and uneven breathing. He turned his head in every direction trying to make sense of his surroundings, still dazed from suddenly waking up. As the confusion started to go away, he realized with a sigh of relief that he was in their room. 

He had a nightmare and just like the others the memory of it slipped away from him like a slimy serpent.

He straightened himself as he brushed the cold sweat away, frowning at the stickiness. He rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes as he looked at the digital clock. It was 2:18am.

He looked around the messy room waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Something felt… off. He could feel himself start to shiver as the cold air touched his slick skin. He wanted to turn on the night light but it was on the far corner of the room. And he felt that he didn't want to… no, shouldn't leave the safety of his bed.

_Chrrcckkkk_

He cringed involuntarily at the subtle noise. It sounded like scratching, soft and erratic, like claws grating against wood. He didn’t like how the dark room only made things creepier. A sound must have escaped him because moments later he heard Tadashi calling out his name.

“Hiro?” a muffled groan came from behind the divider that separated their room.

_chhhhrrrcccckkk_

“Y-yeah?” he turned slowly, guilt flooding him for waking his brother at this time of night, god knows his brother needed rest after staying up late.. as always. But relief also washed over him, it was comforting to know that he wasn’t alone in their room at this very moment.

_Shouldn’t be here._

It came like a murmur, although barely, no sound accompanied it but the idea’s spindly legs crawled its way into the back of his head. Where did that come from? He shivered at the sudden thought. But he felt himself fidget uncomfortably all the same, the little hairs on his back prickling without restraint. He had an urge to look behind him but he decided against it, tightly wrapping himself with his blanket instead.

_Chhhhrrrcccckkkk_

Hiro shut his eyes tight. He thought he saw something move from somewhere under the table. Please let it be Mochi. 

“Is everything alright?” Tadashi asked sleepily.

Chhhrrckkkk… chhhrcccckkkk

“Was it a bad dream?” he asked again.

But Hiro wasn’t listening he was busy trying to figure out what was causing the noise or better yet where it was coming from. Maybe it came from outside. But…

_Chhhrrrcccccckkkk... Chhhrccckkkk… chhhrcccccccckkkk_

It sounded closer. It sounded like it came from inside the room. He pulled the blankets tighter, clutching to it like it was his only lifeline.

“Hiro?” the worry in Tadashi’s voice was now apparent.

That snapped Hiro out of it. He didn’t like it when Tadashi sounded worried, especially when he should be resting. 

Hiro took a deep and steady breath. It was only his mind trying to play tricks on him, he assured himself… persuaded himself. It was just his imagination, nothing more. Somehow he doubted it, but why?

_Shouldn’t be here._

“I’m fine.” he sighed. But deep down he knew that he really wasn’t. He woke up at an ungodly hour, greeted by confusion and panic in the dark, scared senseless by that god-forsaken noise, and that shrapnel of a thought that stuck to his brain like a splinter only made it worse. He doubt he would be able to go back to sleep.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Hiro could hear shifting and shuffling from behind the divider.

“N-no, really I’m fine Dashi. You should go back to sleep” It’s not that he didn’t want to talk about it. It was just him being stupid and scared for nothing, or not. Besides, Tadashi needed to rest.

However, a sliver of memory came to him. He remembered screaming Tadashi’s name over and over in his nightmare. His heart clenched and he felt like falling. He felt something ice cold stab the pit of his stomach as he remembered his voice, so desperate… so… scared. He felt his arms involuntarily wrap around himself.

_Chhhhhrrcccckkkkk chhhrrrrccckkkkk chhhrrccccckkkkk_

His body went rigid. His brow furrowed as he hopelessly searched for the now incessant scratching. God! Where was it coming from? His heart was somehow starting to pick up its pace again, cold sweat trickling down his forehead. 

“You can sleep beside me if you like”, Tadashi offered, softness accompanying his deep voice. With that said, the bamboo divider opened slowly with a soft hiss. 

He couldn’t remember when he stood up but he instantly found himself in front of Tadashi’s bed, who lifted the blanket invitingly for Hiro to slip into, the warm smile that he adored evident in the sleepy face. He immediately slid into the bed feeling the soft mattress and the familiar form beside him. 

A few minutes has already passed since he last heard the scratching. Hiro sighed in relief thinking that it must have been Mochi. Yeah, it must have definitely been Mochi, he assured himself. He didn’t know why he was starting to freak out.

He faced Tadashi, looking into that dimly lit face. He smiled at his big brother, he always felt safe whenever he was around him. An eye cracked open to look at Hiro, making his heart jump. Tadashi sleepily smiled at him with that stupid lopsided grin of his. He felt a rush of blood seeping into his face and turned away to hide his embarrassment, suddenly earning himself a chuckle from his stupid big brother.

“You’re sure you don’t want to talk about it?” the deep soft voice whispered behind him.

Hiro shook his head in response but shuffled a little closer to Tadashi expecting the warmness to take over. Instead, it felt a little cold. His brother chuckled as his hands slowly shifted and pulled Hiro closer. 

_Shouldn’t be here._

Hiro stiffened. What shouldn’t be here? Why do those words keep popping up? 

As he mulled over the dark thought, big hands slowly slipped under his shirt and rested above his hip just beside the navel, cold fingers circling his skin. He shivered and let out a hiss from the cold touch of his brother’s usually warm hands. He closed his eyes as a small smile curled from his lips. Tadashi’s hand felt good against his body, despite the coldness.

He felt Tadashi moved his head closer, his nose nuzzling Hiro’s nape and inhaling deeply, causing a shudder to run its long and callous finger along his spine.

“Hiro” his brother whispered thickly into his ear, warm breathe stroking his sensitive skin. A scorching heat suddenly surged throughout his body causing him to curl his toes and clench his fists. Cold hands now started to move upwards, his chest heaving as it grazed his nipples. 

A whimper escaped from his slightly parted lips. He could feel dashi’s smile against the bare skin of his nape. They shouldn’t be doing this, it was wrong. But god, he has waited so long for his brother to touch him like this. 

And yet, something kept gnawing at him, like an unreachable itch. It was like something that he was supposed to remember but couldn't because it was just at the tip of his tongue. He couldn’t point it out. Not with dashi’s hand all over him. He let out a quiet chuckle at the thought. 

“D-Dashi?” a whisper, barely audible, crept through his mouth.

“Hmm?”

“I…” a rush of blood crept into his face. Tadashi’s cold fingers were now moving upward in slow circles towards his neck, making Hiro quiver even more. It felt so, so good.

“Dashi, I…” he started, his heart now pounding harder against his chest. 

“Yeah?” his brother coaxed gently.

“I..” he hesitated. Should he say it? He really wanted to. What’s the worst that could happen anyway? 

“I love you…” He flinched as the words came out a little too loud. He waited for his brother’s reaction as he laid oh so still, afraid that he might miss the reply.

Silence. Tadashi’s hand suddenly stopped moving. Why didn’t Dashi answer? Hiro felt his heart wrenched itself from his chest and slowly squirmed its way up his throat. He didn’t dare turn around. He felt the heat starting to rise up his face. The shame that he felt was so unbearable he began to tremble as tears threatened to escape his eyes.

“Dashi, I-I didn’t mean to..” he choked. He curled himself into his hands somehow hoping that it was enough to hide his humiliation. 

The sound that answered then… seemed to be inhuman.

It was low and guttural.

 _“Babaaa…”_

Slow and steady.

 _“dooook…”_

An inbreed between a croak and a whisper

 _“doooooook..”_

Becoming louder and intense

_“DOOOOOKKKK!”_

The hairs behind his back suddenly felt like cold tiny splinters pricking and piercing him. He shakily mustered up the courage to turn around to look at his brother. If this was some sick joke...

[ ](http://tinypic.com?ref=htupzm)

A pale face not even resembling his brother’s stared at him, eyes so black and empty like bottomless pits, crooked teeth lining a mouth so wide that it extended across its face. Something cold bore into his chest and slithered into his stomach and through his veins. Hiro let out a blood curdling yell as the thing in front of him opened its mouth and came closer.

He raised his arms in a desperate attempt to shield himself. He closed his eyes tight ready for the attack. But something was not right. 

It never came. 

He opened his eyes and he could see the harsh glare of diffused light surrounding him which meant it was now morning. He lowered his arms and found himself sitting up in his bed. He turned around frantically searching the room for any signs of the thing. 

It was only a nightmare, his tense body started to relax a little. He took a long shaky breathe, burying his face into his hands. A subtle warmth wrapped around him. That was one hell of a nightmare, he exhaled slowly. He wondered if Tadashi was awake.

“Hey nerd, are you awa…” he almost choked. The warmth suddenly drained away from his flesh, mutating into a cold sharp bed of nails.

He slowly and painfully looked towards the other side of the room. So quiet, so empty. Oh… 

_Shouldn’t be here._

It rang loud and clear, like the blood curdling scream that he let out a while ago. 

He quickly looked away as he hugged himself tight. Trying to ignore the hollow feeling inside his chest. 

He remembers now.


	2. Imagination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiro found a mysterious book in his room that he doesn't remember ever owning.

(35 days after the fire…)  
(32 days since the nightmare…)

_“Tadashi!!” he screamed.  
“Tadashi!!” He tried to run for the school but strong hands were all over him, their vice like grip held on until he was weak from struggling. Until the building collapsed._

When he resurfaced into consciousness, he was left a little shaky and cold at the memory. And the first thing that greeted his eyes was something red.

 _Blood…_ was the first word that came into his hazy thoughts. But, it wasn't. He was staring at this big red book resting on his lap, the one that he found on the shelf earlier that evening. 

He was waiting for Aunt Cass to finally leave the room after bringing him dinner, that would yet again be left untouched, and her almost daily routine of telling him that his… _no, not his_ , he thought, _Tadashi’s friends_ missed him. Also, that the school called and if he was ready, the offer was still open and he could still register. He just gave Aunt Cass a faint smile and a plaintive _“Okay”_ , which in turn earned him a pained look in her face despite the understanding smile that she gave. He had looked away, unable to look his Aunt.

That was when he saw the book. He doesn’t remember ever owning it, or buying it for that matter. Neither did he ever see Tadashi reading it. But there it was in plain sight. His curiosity got the better of him and he took it off the shelf to inspect it. 

Now, with the book placed on his lap, he inspected the velvet cover. It had a big title engraved in bold black ink.

**“Mr. Babadook”**

And a pure black silhouette of something below it. 

He picked up the mysterious red book and flipped it open curiously. It looked like your average children’s book complete with pop –up pictures and all that junk. Although, judging from the first page the illustrations where probably not as colorful and child friendly as they appeared. 

Where did this come from anyway? He didn’t remember it being read to him when he was younger. He shrugged and started reading, curiosity coaxing him.

_If it’s in a word, or in a look  
You can’t get rid of the Babadook_

_Babadook…_ He mouthed the word quietly, finding it all too familiar. But he couldn’t remember where he heard that word before. Never mind though, as he flipped to the next page, a pop up of a door with a shadowy figure peeking through it decorated its center. He read…

 _If you really are a clever one_  
_And you know what it is to see_  
_Then you can make friends with a special one_  
_A friend of you and me_ …

He quirked an eyebrow curiously as he stared at the picture. There was an odd little paper lever at the corner of the page. He pulled it and a tiny paper hand emerged from the door seemingly waving in greeting. “Huh.”

He flipped on to the next page. Somehow the rough feel of the thick ivory pages felt good beneath his fingers, almost soothing.

_His name is Mr. Babadook  
And this is his book_

Hiro could feel his brow furrow a little. That name kept gnawing at him, he doesn’t understand why. He continued turning the page, the sound of clashing paper sounding oddly sweet to his ears. A picture of a large cabinet occupied one page, the other page contained the verses and an image of a little boy on the corner pointing at the cabinet…

 _A rumbling sound then three sharp knocks_  
_ba BA-ba DOOK! DOOK! DOOK!_  
_That’s when you’ll know that he’s around_  
_You’ll see him if you look_

Hiro opened the paper doors on the black cabinet revealing the very same words.

_ba BA-ba DOOK! DOOK! DOOK!_

At this very moment Hiro was starting to feel uncomfortable, the back of his neck started to prickle and the room somehow felt colder. He risked looking behind him. The blinds were closed to his relief. But…

He placed the book on his bed and he stood, he could feel his heart beat slowly increase its pace. Slowly reaching for the blinds he stopped midway. His hand was trembling. _Come on, Hiro. Stop scaring yourself! it's just your imagination._

He pulled the blinds in a flash and to his heart-melting relief there was dimness, almost on the verge of being pure dark, but there was nothing there. He closed the blinds as quickly as he opened them.

He inhaled deeply, rubbing his face with his sweat-moist hands. _See, Hiro, it was just your imagination._

He felt his heart twist and turn. He remembered when Dashi was… was here. Hiro never got scared easily because he knew Tadashi was always there. No matter how many bumps or sounds he hears at night he wasn’t scared. He always felt safe with him around. And when he did get scared, though he didn’t admit it, Tadashi would patiently and knowingly accompany him down the kitchen pretending to also want a midnight snack, or would sleep beside Hiro, or let Hiro sleep beside him on his bed pretending to be cold or that it was lonely in his own bed.

Hiro shook the thoughts away like hot embers. He took a long deep breath and then sat back on the bed to continue reading.

_This is what he wears on top  
He’s funny don’t you think?_

Hiro might have agreed that the image of the Babadook with its black coat and top hat was a little comical if not disturbing. But the black and white ink along with the dark tones that was used to print the whole book only made it more creepy than funny. Why anyone in their right mind would read this to a child, Hiro didn’t know.

So he continued on reading because, well, he didn’t really know why. Something was urging him to read on. He flipped to the next page and..

_See him in your room at night  
And you won’t sleep a wink_

Mr. Babadook appeared on the top portion of the page looking down and reaching for the little boy from before, who was now lying on his wooden bed, with the words _“Let me in”_ spilling from its wide black mouth and its long sharps fingers outstretched. This just keeps getting creepier and creepier.

Hiro was smart enough to know that he should have stopped reading by now, and he was smart enough to know that whatever he was reading was just fiction. A scary story made for children, maybe to scare them when they were naughty. But somehow the curiosity and fear that had him tangled in its gnarled fingers made him unable to. So he read on, albeit with hesitation.

Whatever was in the next page he never expected it. The pale face, those pair of hollow black eyes and the wide mouth that looked directly at him, this thing was in his nightmare from weeks ago. 

He felt cold nimble fingers caress his nape and moved onto his face as he stared at the pop out picture. It occupied almost both pages, popping out from the center with the three most cryptically scary verses he had read throughout this time.

 _I’ll soon take off my funny disguise_  
_(take heed of what you’ve read)_  
_And once you see what’s underneath_ …

He turned the next page so suddenly, that the last verse made his blood turn ice cold.

**_You’re going to wish you were dead._ **

Those chilling words were the last, the next pages where all blank as he found out when he flipped through them. 

He slammed the book shut and hurriedly placed it on top of a shelf behind some other books, away from his sight.

This was insane, how could he… why did he even read the damn book? He sat on his bed trembling lightly. The face flashed in his mind, so sharp and vivid that he flinched. There was no doubt that it was the very same one from his nightmare. He felt a familiar cold and slimy thing wriggling at the pit of his stomach.

No, he thought indignantly. This was just a coincidence. He might have seen this when he was younger and got so scared that it must have been hidden deep in his memories. Yes, that must be it. What else could it be? 

Suddenly, he heard light creaking noise by the stairs. He felt his heart skip a few beats. His eyes wide with fear as he kept staring at the stair’s direction, which was the only entrance to their room. 

_creeakkkkk_

Hiro picled up the closest thing he could use as a weapon. His shoe. by the sound of the creaking whatever it was that was causing it was already close. 

_creaaaaakkk_

Hiro's heart felt like it was ready to burst from his chest. A trickle of cold sweat ran down his neck, making him twitch. 

And then an orange fur, followed by soft purring, emerged from the steps. 

“Mochi! You scared the hell out of me!” he hissed. Hiro threw a shoe at him and missed. The obese cat hissed angrily and ran down the stairs. Leaving Hiro bewildered at his reaction. 

He was mad. Mad at Mochi for scaring him but also mad at himself for letting his imagination get to him.

He regretted ever reading the book.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done! :D Hope you enjoy!
> 
> P.S. Do take note that i've changed soe description regarding the look of Mr. Babadook. So... okay.
> 
> Constructive criticisms are always welcome! :D

**Author's Note:**

> OKay, done! :D Hope you guys liked it. So whatcha think? Should I continue? Should I stop? or Should I just throw myself into the trash and be done with it?
> 
> Anyway, I hope i was able to convey the dark and creepy tone into the story. I don't know how you guys do it but writing this story really wore me out. 
> 
> I also apologize for the totally crappy doodle. It was the best I could do to make the Babadook more sinister looking, given that my knowledge in drawing is crap. Also, if i used the Babadook’s appearance from the film , it would have only been comical if imagined in this animated world. So I changed it to make it more terrifying. Was it terrifying???
> 
> And, oh, if you really want to hear the Babadook’s voice you can listen for it here. it’s at the end of the clip. Trust me it’s creepier when you hear it. [Babadook’s voice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1akxppIR3Io)


End file.
